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Lekala 4017 & More Thurlows

I stitched up Lekala 4017 blouse and two more pairs of Sewaholic Thurlow shorts and more funky photos – this time I have the lovely sunset glow despite being 1 pm! Haha! Yay fake tan!

I messed up from the get-go on the blouse. I put it in and took it out of my shopping cart so many times that by the time I finally purchased it, I forgot to switch the format to letter size paper rather than the default A4 (Russian company). After printing it on my home printer, I realized how messed up it was. I searched all over the place and couldn’t find any A4 paper for sale without ordering it online for the tune of $15+ after shipping. I decided to tough it out and try to make it work as-is.

I omitted the shoulder strap ruffles. They just weren’t my cup of tea.

It turned out a little on the slim side so I had to pick apart the center back seam and add a scrap strip of fabric down the center to make it wide enough to go around me.

Despite the fact that Lekala uses custom measurements for your pattern, I still had to adjust between the shoulder and bust – no surprise there, though. No one has space for a short shoulder adjustment in their calculations. Can’t expect a miracle! Because of the construction of this top, I had to adjust on-the-fly rather than being able to take the space out of the flat pattern. I completely picked apart the under bust seam and the button bands, chopped an inch and a half off the button bands, gathered the bust more, then put it back together. I did mark the adjustments on the pattern for future reference, but I won’t be making this one again.

After I wore it for less than half an hour, I realize there’s so much gaping happening at the bust line that it’s practically unwearable. I suffered with it the rest of the day, tucking the neckline into my bra to keep it against my body whenever I needed to bend over, contemplating how to fix it. Perhaps a bit of clear elastic a la Lladybird Lauren will do but I have yet to try that.

The fabric is a vintage scrap I picked up at a yard sale while I was at the beach. I paid a whopping quarter for it! It’s a swiss dot with heavy poly content but beyond that I have no clue. It just made me think of a happy summer day so I knew I needed it. I topped it off with sweet little vintage yellow buttons from my stash. It’s a shame to waste fabric that makes me so happy so I’ll have to try to make this thing work.

I paired it with yet another two pairs of Sewaholic Thurlow shorts. This time jean shorts, for which I had a big hole in my wardrobe. They’re a stretch denim which I love. I think I’ll go back and get more from Hancock next time I’m in the area.

However, they gave me a little challenge when it came to top stitching. The stretch allowed the fabric to stretch too much and made my fabric seem wavy which you can see along the top stitching above the hems. Hopefully they will shrink up a bit in the wash and take care of that problem. Plus they’re a little loosey goosey. Not sure why since they’re exactly the same as the last gazillion pairs I’ve made.

I didn’t bother photographing the second pair since the only difference is I top stitched the center seam on one pair and not the other.

I made these assembly line style which really seemed to speed things up. I had two whole pairs done in two sessions.